I am not one to lump the Pauls in with the TeaBaggers because the TeaBaggers are the GOP perversion of the Libertarian movement. I wouldn’t say that Libertarians are racists, would you? I have known a lot of kooky people who call themselves Libs but I still can’t say they’re racists.

I think the spectrum of racism or the component of racial prejudice among the TeaBaggers goes from none to 100%. I think the movement itself is the result of fearmongering by people like Faux and Glenn Beck that convince people that they “have to take their country back” and guess who that means? Take it back from WHOM, exactly? I think we know the answer to that, don’t we? It’s the black nationalist in the White House.

I’m not making any excuses for Rand Paul’s comments. What he says stands on its own merits. His objection with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is with one Title of the Act, or at least that’s what he told Rachel. I disagree with his position on this but it is not because I think he’s racist. He just thinks that “market forces” will take care of the racism problem. I think that is total nonsense, I think we were living the “market forces” of racial equality before the Civil Rights Act.

I don’t think that you can be held accountable for the unrelated ideas of people who follow you politically. For example, there are probably people who read this website who believe that 9/11 was an internal plot by the US Government to seize civil rights from the citizenry. I don’t know if this is true or not. That doesn’t mean that I should be called a Truther. The same applies to Rand Paul. Just because the Lib/TeaBagger movement has a lot of racist people in it, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Pauls are racists. They can’t help what everybody believes.

So, I agree with your statement “The whole Libertarian/Tea Bagger schtick is a thinly veiled cover for resurgent racism.” However, that doesn’t mean that everyone who is associated with it should be tarred with the same brush.

Thanks again for your comment.

The Pauls are racists. The whole Libertarian/Tea Bagger schtick is a thinly veiled cover for resurgent racism. State’s rights, individual rights to be a racist, “illegal immigrant” rants, etc. are just pretzel-twisted logic for condoning racism and embracing racists into a vile political movement.

Making excuses for Rand Paul’s racist comments. That’s not something you’ll ever find me doing.

He’s a racist. The Constitution protects anyone’s right to be a racist jackass. That’s never been in question. But Rand Paul is AGAINST THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964!!! That puts him in some pretty hideous company. Racist company. Libert-Aryan company.

I think that Ron and Rand Paul share ideas that are crazy as sacks of shit. But I can’t say that we have proof of their racism.

Rand Paul has made some very high profile remarks that he attempted to weasel out of while being interviewed by Rachel Maddow on her show. However, I am not convinced that what he said constitutes being a racist. Instead, I think what he said was that it was your legal right to be a racist and the government should take no position in the matter.

Personally, I think this is one of the things that the Federal government does well. I think the Civil Rights Act of ’64 was a big success, and I also think that for Glenn Beck to try to claim ownership of it (or “reclaim” as he puts it) is ludicrous. This needs to be written up in the top of the page, not in the comments.

Thanks for your further comment on this topic, James, and I hope we can continue to disagree disagreeably.

-Wexler

LOL!

Not a Libertarian; not even a libertarian.

Glenn Beck tried to take the Libertarian test, he did his best, he jabbed the pencils right into his chest.

(With a wink to a great American artist, Dan Hicks)

-Wexler

Thanks for the good laugh first thing in the morning. I’m still waiting on coffee so at least I didn’t spit it all over my computer!

Well, I can’t disagree with your characterization that some if not most Libertarians are “right wing, pro-corporate tools.” But not all corporatists are created equal.

Democratic and Republican corporatists are mercenary and grabbastic. Libertarians are ideologues.

I guess that’s another way of saying that Libertarians are the true kool-aide drinkers of the corporatist world. They believe that corporations should be allowed to do anything they want as long as they are willing to suffer the consequences. Workplace safety? Pshaw! Sure, some of your workers may be killed or injured, but it was their choice to work there and if you slip their widows and kids a few hundred bucks now and then everything should be OK. Besides, if the word gets around that people get killed and maimed at your place, the free market will eventually take care of it because nobody will want to work there. So you can mistreat your employees any way you want as long as you can deal with the consequences.

That’s the thought process of the Libertarians. They’re so used to not getting elected that they don’t even give a crap about the political fallout of any of their positions. The only reason they ever got any traction is because they are pro guns, pro pot, and anti-war. I guess that shows that even a douche bag has something in it once in a while.

Thanks for your comment.

Fuck! Pay some goddamned attention!